The idle musings of a former military man, former computer geek, medically retired pastor and now full-time writer. Contents guaranteed to offend the politically correct and anal-retentive from time to time. My approach to life is that it should be taken with a large helping of laughter, and sufficient firepower to keep it tamed!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Around the blogs

Once again, there's a bumper crop of good reading from other corners of the blogosphere. Here goes!

Imagine this: You're at a friend's house for a summertime BBQ, perhaps a small gathering of friends for a nice summer's evening. Attracted by the large number of cars parked on the street, a couple neighborhood thugs decide to crash the party, flash a gun, score a bunch of wallets and watches. It brings up a fundamental question that should be addressed among friends beforehand in case the situation ever arises:

Do the visitors get first shot at the goblins, since they're the guests, or do manners dictate that the homeowner get first shot?

I know it's all the rage these days, but you can't legislate common sense. You can't litigate someone into self-control. You can't force people to do something they don't want to do - hell, we can't stop people from using drugs that are not only illegal to use, they're illegal to posses and illegal to bring into the country. And you're going to stop them from drinking Coke?

Blunt Object references Eugene Volokh in asking whether churches that discriminate between individuals on the grounds of their religious beliefs should be entitled to tax relief. It's an interesting subject, and botharticles are worth your attention. It's a debate that I'm sure will attract more and more attention in the near future.

21-year old college student: Life and death decision consists of which professor to take for easiest “gentleman’s C” grade in Underwater Basket Weaving. Has at hand hundreds of dollars from latest student loan to spend on cheap booze which will be thrown up on random couch in random sorority house.

21-year old infantry buck sergeant: Calling in air support, coordinating movement with higher authority and other units, keeping squad in one piece while undetermined number of bad guys are trying to turn you into DEAD infantry buck sergeant. Has at hand millions of dollars of equipment he can be held personally responsible for.

What's the key driver of this master narrative? Technology, specifically, the Internet. Gatekeepers and centralized authority are no match for decentralized knowledge and decision-making. Once a people don't need to rely on a centralized authority to tell them what to do, the centralized authority becomes a costly impediment, a tax on the entire society and economy.

In a cost-benefit analysis, centralization once paid significant dividends. Now it is a drag that only inhibits growth and progress.

Now, to the under-30s: What is wrong with you?! $500,000 for a degree that is not related to the medical field? Are you kidding me? Even $100,000 for a degree that isn't a stepping stone towards employment (like medicine, engineering, etc) is ridiculous, especially if you're relying on loans to get it. I know, teachers and parents all told you a degree, any degree (even one in basket weaving) was necessary to succeed in life. But just because someone tells you something does not mean you should believe it with your whole heart, without any critical thought whatsoever.

First, not all degrees are equal. Really, had you studied basket weaving instead of (insert minority) studies, you might have actually learned a skill. Also, if your chief cause in (insert minority) studies is that your particular ethnicity/faith/gender isn't represented in STEM fields or the business world...maybe, I don't know, major in a STEM degree or business?

John Carey reminds us of 'Vietnam 1965: The Day It Became the Longest War'. I'd always regarded the late President Johnson as incompetent, corrupt and foolish; now it appears he was a bully and a liar as well. I can't say I was surprised to read this account - it squares with what I already knew of the man - but I wish it had become public knowledge at the time. It might have saved the lives of tens of thousands of young Americans and Vietnamese . . .

5 comments:

RE: the decentralization post at Zero Hedge, and linked by Borepatch - there is a reason we are the United States of America and not "America With an All-Powerful Central Government and Fifty (or is it 57?) Insignificant Political Subdivisions."

What works has worked for quite a while, and what doesn't work never has.

On the "This Ain't Hell..." Link:I think we should take this person's views very seriously. We should have a bunch of lawyers and politicians debating every action every single military member might make and only after very serious discussion can they be told if they can shoot off a round or two. Seriously. It worked in Vietnam, right?

My God, the absolute horror this dimwit must be in at the concept of someone else actually thinking and acting autonomously! Why, what can we do without the sage advice of our betters?

We in the military kill other people and break things. That's what we do. We are very, very good at it. If you don't want people killed and things broken, DON'T FREAKIN' SEND US IN.